The Russian invasion into Ukraine entered its 14th day Wednesday as an air alert was declared in and near Kyiv. The alert was later lifted.
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Meanwhile, Russian troops continued to surround the coastal city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine, where civilians are facing a humanitarian crisis after being encircled for days, according to The Associated Press.
Here are the latest updates:
China to send $790,000 aid to Ukraine, France prepares to help 10,000 refugees
Update 9:21 a.m. EST March 9: China’s Red Cross will be sending about $791,000 in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, CNN reported. The aid includes food and daily necessities and the first shipment has already left China.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his country is sending an additional $50 million in equipment to Ukraine, The Washington Post reported.
Meanwhile, France is getting ready to help 10,000 refugees from Ukraine, a government spokesperson said.
French Citizenship Minister Marlene Schiappa said that 5,000 refugees have already arrived in her country, CNN reported. But efforts to evacuate the city of Bucha, north of Kyiv, have been stalled as a convoy has been blocked by Russian forces, city government officials said. The citizens were supposed to escape their homes through an agreed-upon evacuation corridor.
“The occupants are disrupting the evacuation. Currently, 50 buses are blocked by Russian military in the parking lot: do not give passage to the column,” the city council said in a brief Facebook post. “Negotiations are ongoing to unlock traffic.”
Chernobyl nuclear plant disconnected from power, needs urgent repairs to avert nuclear disaster, Ukrainian foreign minister says
Update 8:17 a.m. EST March 9: Ukraine’s state-owned power grid operator Ukrenergo says Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been cut off from its power supply which could prevent the cooling of nuclear fuel at the site, The Washington Post reported.
Electricity is required for the cooling, ventilation and fire extinguishing systems.
There are emergency diesel generators that are running but they’re only expected to last for 48 hours with the current fuel supply, the Post reported.
Ukrenergo said that without power the “parameters of nuclear and radiation safety” cannot be controlled, The Associated Press reported.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba demanded a cease-fire to be able to allow repairs to start to prevent a nuclear disaster.
He said once the generators run out of fuel, “cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent. Putin’s barbaric war puts entire Europe in danger,” the Post reported.
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency said “that remote data transmission from safeguards monitoring systems installed at the Chornobyl NPP had been lost,” the IAEA said, according to the Post.
But the body tweeted that there is “no critical impact on safety.”
Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that the government does not know the current radiation levels at the Chernobyl plant and have no control over what is happening at Europe’s largest nuclear plant, Zaporizhzhia, which is under the control of Russian troops since last week, Reuters reported.
Some evacuate through corridors, but progress limited; More sanctions issued for oligarchs, politicians
Update 7:26 a.m. EST March 9: Some people have been able to leave Ukraine through agreed-upon corridors but it has been limited as heavy weapons fire has blocked some routes. Evacuations are planned in Vorzel, Borodyanka, Hostomel, Irpin and Bucha, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, the European Union has issued a fourth round of sanctions against Russian politicians and 160 oligarchs, CNN reported. It extends SWIFT restrictions against banks in Belarus, The New York Times reported.
UK: Russian troops fail to make progress in Kyiv; heavy shelling continues in other cities
Update 5 a.m. EST March 9: The U.K. Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update Wednesday that Russian forces have failed to make progress in Kyiv; however, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mariupol continue to suffer heavy shelling, according to the AP.
“Ukrainian air defenses appear to have enjoyed considerable success against Russia’s modern combat aircraft, probably preventing them achieving any degree of control of the air,” read the update, which was posted on Twitter.
China sending aid to Ukraine, still opposes sanctions on Russia
Update 4 a.m. EST March 9: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Wednesday that China plans to send about $791,000 in humanitarian aid, including food and other necessities, to Ukraine, according to the AP.
Zhao, who said the first batch of supplies was sent to the Ukrainian Red Cross on Wednesday, added that China still opposes economic sanctions against Russia, the AP reported.
“Wielding the stick of sanctions at every turn will never bring peace and security but cause serious difficulties to the economies and livelihoods of the countries concerned,” he said, adding that China and Russia will “continue to carry out normal trade cooperation.”
Civilian evacuations planned in Sumy; air alert lifted in Kyiv
Update 3 a.m. EST March 9: Dmytro Zhyvytskyy, the regional administration chief in Sumy, said a safe evacuation corridor will be open again from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Ukraine time Wednesday, according to the AP.
On Tuesday, about 5,000 civilians, including 1,700 foreign students, were safely evacuated on 22 buses that traveled from Sumy to Poltava, the news agency reported.
Meanwhile, an air alert declared early Wednesday in and around Kyiv has been lifted, according to the AP.
Top US lawmakers reach deal on Ukraine aid, government funding
Update 2 a.m. EST March 9: U.S. Congressional leaders from both political parties reached a deal early Wednesday on providing nearly $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine and European allies as part of a $1.5 trillion measure to finance the government through the rest of the year, according to the AP.
The bipartisan deal also includes $15.6 billion in coronavirus-related spending domestically and around the world, the news agency reported.
Party leaders hope the bill will clear the House on Wednesday and the Senate by the end of the week, according to the AP.
Air alert declared in Kyiv
Update 1 a.m. EST March 9: Officials urged residents in and near Kyiv to head to bomb shelters as soon as possible Wednesday morning as an air alert was declared in the area, according to the AP.
“Kyiv region – air alert,” Oleksiy Kuleba, the regional administration head, said in a Telegram post. “Threat of a missile attack. Everyone immediately to shelters.”
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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